Nebraska isn't the first state that comes to mind for forest hikes, but the Nebraska National Forest makes a strong case. Spread across the state's western half alongside three national grasslands, this Forest Service complex offers close to 400 miles of trails, quiet prairie vistas, and solid camping — all with a fraction of the crowds you'd find at marquee national parks.
The forest's strangest claim to fame sits in the Bessey Ranger District near Halsey. Botanist Charles E. Bessey spearheaded an ambitious tree-planting experiment in the early 1900s, and the result is still standing: more than 90,000 acres of pine forest that make up the largest hand-planted forest in the Western Hemisphere. You can watch the tradition continue at the Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery, which has been cultivating seedlings for over a century. The district also serves as a gateway to Nebraska's Sandhills, where windswept dunes meet the misleadingly named Dismal River, all linked by the Sandhills Scenic Byway.
The Pine Ridge Ranger District near Chadron looks entirely different. Here, white cliffs, buttes, and small canyons break up the plains stereotype — roughly 80 miles of trails thread through forests, meadows, and grasslands. Highlights include the Black Hills Overlook Trail in Chadron State Park, which reaches far enough to catch views into South Dakota, plus the wildlife-heavy Soldier Creek Wilderness and the 40-mile Pine Ridge Trail, open to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders.
Beyond hiking, the Bessey District offers a genuine wildlife spectacle: Grouse Viewing Blinds, where you can watch prairie grouse mating displays in spring. There's also a fish pond stocked year-round with bass, trout, and catfish.
Camping is straightforward and affordable. The most developed option is the Bessey Recreation Complex, with 46 sites plus basketball, volleyball, and river tubing. If it's full, try the 10-site Whitetail Campground, the equestrian-focused Natick Campground, or on the Pine Ridge side, Red Cloud (13 sites) and Soldier Creek (8 sites). Dispersed camping is allowed for those who prefer no amenities at all. And if you'd rather sleep in a bed, Chadron — a genuine old frontier town — has plenty of lodging within easy reach of the trails.
For travellers chasing open space without the elbow-to-elbow trailhead parking, this is the Great Plains at its most surprising: hand-planted pines, rolling dunes, rocky escarpments, and prairie grouse displaying at dawn, all in a state most people only drive through.
